I managed to get this attractive Gustav Becker for a very reasonable price. It was the price that made my decision, had it cost too much more I may not have bothered given the work required.
The crown at the the top of the clock and bottom pediment are not original to the clock. It is not too unusual for the crown to go missing on these, less usual to have the bottom pediment missing. In the picture above right, the rear of the replacement bottom pediment can be seen. It has been well made, though with ply wood and then veneered with English Oak as had the top crown.
Below is a picture of a very similar Gustav Becker Vienna, which I used as a reference when restoring this one. The crown and the bottom pediment can be seen to be very different to the replacements found on the clock above.
As would be expected, the movement is of a very good quality. Finely made with precision, though very dirty and very oily. After disassembling it was given a thorough clean and reassembled to observe for wear in the pivot holes and the pivots. Each component is carefully inspected under magnification, looking for wear, bent teeth or any signs of metal fatigue. These finer movements often do not need a great deal of bushing work carried out on the pivot holes, however notable wear was evident and a total of 12 pivot holes were re-bushed.
All other aspects associated with a full service and repairs were carried out and the movement was re-assembled. Running the movement on a test stand for a couple of weeks gave the opportunity to work on the case. I wait until everything is ready for assembly before polishing the weights and the pendulum bob. After polishing these I like to coat them in a gold tinted shellac, which protects from tarnish, finger marks and gives a brighter finish.
Case parts were supplied by John at Old and New Times. John makes replacement components based on original designs. Having chosen the case parts it then required the task of matching the wood colours. I used small squares drawn out on a parts of the case components that would not be seen on assembly to test the colours. No two wood dyes form different manufacturers will ever be the same, so it is a case of mixing and testing in the numbered squares drawn out on the wood. It's a good idea to make notes, and use a precise measurement, such as a large plastic syringe, as you go in order to be able to repeat what you've done in a larger batch when happy with the match. It's fair to say it's pretty difficult to get an exact match, and it's a good idea to get a second and third opinion from friends. Ask them to choose the best match out of the test patches on the parts. If they agree with you it's probably close enough!
So here's how the clock looks now it has been finished. In the first picture you can see the pendulum swing with quite a large amplitude. This was reduced greatly by adjusting the locks of the pallets until the escapement wheel teeth were dropping onto the lock faces of the pallets by only approx 0.35-40mm. It now swings approx 18-19mm either side of centre, which does make it more sensitive when beat setting but is my preference to have a small amplitude. It is keeping great time.
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